Muscle Does NOT Turn into Fat!

Question: I worked out hard, for me, a couple of years ago and put on some muscle.
I haven't been training for about a year, all the muscle I put on has turned to fat and my jeans are tight in my upper thighs. What do football players and bodybuilders do when they quit working out to keep the muscle from turning to fat?

Answer: It is still amazing that people actually believe that myth or at least use it as an excuse for being lazy. If you can find any scientific evidence that a muscle cell can actually change it's structure and become a fat cell or vice-versa please send it this way. It is physically impossible to change one type of cell, a muscle cell, into a fat cell. A fat cell is a storage unit that contains stored energy, fat.

A muscle cell is build for contracting and movement. They are complete opposites. One cannot become the other.

Smart bodybuilders and football players, although some people think that is an oxymoron like jumbo shrimp, actually get smaller after their career on the competitive field is over. While training in the gym or playing football the amount of energy expended is enormous and the corresponding number of calories consumed is huge. When they are no longer playing the game, they change training to meet reduced physical demands, to accommodate injuries or adjust for the fact they are simply growing older. These changes include reducing both the amount of food consumed and the types of foods. I know several retired professional players and bodybuilders who all are in great shape but considerably smaller than when they were competing and playing.

In your case, you are now in your mid-40's, female, and you no longer workout due to your busy schedule. Being in your mid-40's without training means whatever changes that occurred during the time you did train have been negated. Your metabolism which was elevated when you worked out is back to normal for a woman your age and getting slower all the time due to hormonal changes and lack of muscular energy demands.
The toned hard muscle you built, though the amount of muscle you built would have been minor, is now soft and flaccid. Without training or exercise your body no longer has greater energy demands. You have to curtail your food intake but not under 1200 to 1400 calories a day. Make those healthy calories and drink plenty of water. If you are going to walk, make it uphill. Strolls around the neighborhood are not going to make a major impact on your bodyfat and bodyfat is what you have accumulated around your thighs from lack or exercise and poor food choices or overeating. Another mistake women make is not eating which negatively affects your body by cannibalizing muscle and accumulating fat as your metabolism decreases at an even greater rate.

If you want change then return to what worked for you and don't blame your thighs on "muscle turning to fat" because that just did not
happen.

Daryl Laws

Personal Training and Sports Performance Excellence Blog

Muscle Does NOT Turn into Fat!